CooperS

Hi all,

I'm new here (though not entirely new to Volvo's). I would be interested to hear opinions about the importance of age, milage and service history for buying.

I want an 850 estate as cheaply as possible but without compromising on the things that will enable it to last another 5 to 10 reliable years.

I know they last well and some can do very high milage. Is it a safe enough bet to consider a 93-94 with over 150 000 miles or would I be wiser to pay nearly twice the amount for a late 96 with low milage and one careful owner? Could the low miler be more prone to problems due to the type of miles (e.g not warmed up throughly)?

I'm currently leaning towards the 2.5 20v engine as I think it might go the distance better than a Turbo (Don't really need a T5 since I have a Mini Cooper S for fun). I just need a comfortable, pratical, dynamic second car, that can deal with the increasing size of the family (3rd Child on the way - 4th is definately not in plan). I just can't decide whether it is worth paying out the extra if an older high miler will keep going just as well.

Any experiences or opinions would help

Matt (soon to be an 850 owner).